March 2014

WebRTC
• Facebook file-sharing app Pipe moves from Flash to WebRTC 
• P2P streaming using data channels + DASH: demo.streamroot.io, live.streamroot.io
• appear.in now does notifications (via a Chrome extension) when someone enters your room (such as appear.in/webrtc)
• File download with data channels: peer5.com/downloader/land.html
• New version of the editor's draft:
  Dated version: dev.w3.org/2011/webrtc/editor/archives/20140321/getusermedia.html
  Living document: dev.w3.org/2011/webrtc/editor/getusermedia.html

Media
• Downton Abbey Without the Hiccups – Buffer-Based Rate Adaptation for HTTP Video Streaming:
At first glance it seems video rate selection algorithms are forced into a tradeof. Requesting a higher video rate might lead to being overly aggressive and unnecessary rebuffering. On the other hand, requesting a lower video rate might under utilize the available capacity and lead to unnecessarily low video quality. 
In this paper we show that this is a false choice: neither of the situations should ever happen! We present a class of video rate selection algorithms that: (1) never unnecessarily rebuffer; and (2) are free to pick the highest possible video rate. Our algorithms achieve both objectives simultaneously by choosing a video rate based only on the current buffer occupancy, and avoid estimating bandwidth at all.
• Wikimedia votes no to MP4

And finally…

• hyperaud.io: transcript-oriented search, navigation and editing for audio and video 
• Netflix pact with Comcast
• Youku Tudou and China's online video scene: 400m viewers, less regulated than state-owned television
• Global recorded music industry revenues fell 4 per cent in 2013: 'The IFPI, the global music industry association that compiled the figures, said the 2013 decline was largely attributable to Japan, the world’s second-largest music market, where revenues fell 17 per cent. Excluding Japan, the global recorded music market was broadly flat, falling in value by 0.1 per cent. US revenues stabilised last year and Europe expanded for the first time in 13 years.'
• US Pay-TV operators lost more subscribers than they added for the first time last year
• Three-fifths of Britain's video, video games and music sales are now derived from the internet: 'Growing demand for streaming services such as Netflix and Spotify helped the UK home entertainment sector increase its revenues in 2013 for the first time in five years to £5.3bn ...'
• Yahoo planning more original content
• BSkyB to launch film download service
• Americans average five hours of TV per day, over 65 more than seven hours